News

Wearable tech and connected devices aren’t the only hardware trends where Portland State University’s Business Accelerator sees opportunity.

In addition to a new partnership aimed at supporting hardware startups, the accelerator this week announced a partnership designed to give a lift to the region’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sector.

The PSU accelerator is teaming with Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton to make some accelerator programs available at BMCC. The move will also give UAV startups a home base to work from near the Pendleton drone test site, one of several selected by the Federal Aviation Administration earlier this year.

It will “extend the entrepreneurial network to Eastern Oregon,” said Art Hill, vice president for economic development at the college’s Small Business Development Center.

Angela Jackson, director of the PSU accelerator, said the partnership positions both schools to take advantage of the UAV opportunities. Oregon wants to be a hub in the growing UAV space. Drone technology has historically been limited to military use, but a host of regional startups are focused on delivering tools and products with commercial promise.